Geoffrey Dabelko

Last updated
Geoffrey D. Dabelko
Alma mater University of Maryland
Duke University
Known for Environmental peacebuilding

Geoffrey D. Dabelko is a professor at the George V. Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service at Ohio University in Athens, OH. He teaches and conducts research in the School's Environmental Studies Program and Master's in Sustainability, Security, and Resilience. His recent research focuses on the conflict and cooperation potential of responses to climate change, environmental peacebuilding, climate resilience and environmental leadership. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Dabelko grew up in Athens, Ohio, graduating from Athens High School. He has an AB in political science from Duke University and a Ph.D. in government and politics from the University of Maryland. [1]

Career

From 1997-2012, Dabelko served as director of the Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP) at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. [2] He continues to work as a senior advisor to the Wilson Center. [3] He is also an Associate Senior Fellow with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute on its Environment of Peace Initiative. From 2012-2018, he served as director of Ohio University's Environmental Studies Program. [4] From 2016-2022, he served as Associate Dean at the Voinovich School. He has held previous positions at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Foreign Policy and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Dabelko is a former member of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Expert Advisory Group on Environment, Conflict, and Peacebuilding. [5] He was a board member (and former chair) at Population Reference Bureau [6] and a founding board member of the Environmental Peacebuilding Association. [7] He is an editorial board member of the journal Case Studies in the Environment, [8] published through University of California Press. Dabelko was a lead author on the 5th Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Working Group II Chapter 12 on "Human Security." He is a chapter author on the International chapter of the 5th U.S. National Climate Assessment.

Research

Together with Ken Conca, Dabelko developed the concept of environmental peacemaking in the early 2000s. Not satisfied with existing approaches that conceived of the environment primarily as a source of conflict and violence, Dabelko and Conca outlined how cooperating on joint environmental issues can contribute to improved relations between nations. Drawing on several case studies, they analysed how international environmental cooperation can change the strategic climate between states (more trust, higher levels of interdependence) and even contribute to post-Westphalian governance (broader forms of transnational integration). [9] This work was key for the development of environmental peacebuilding research and has been picked up by many studies in both international and domestic contexts. [10] [11] Dabelko continues to work in the field, for instance by editing a special issue on environmental peacebuilding and being an author of the Environment of Peace report.Dabelko and Conca were the co-recipients of the Fifth Al-Moumin Award and Distinguished Lecture on Environmental Peacebuilding in 2018 for their work on environmental peacebuilding. Erik Solheim, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme remarked, “No two individuals have shaped our institutional thinking on environmental peacebuilding more than Geoff Dabelko and Ken Conca." [12]

Dabelko is also co-editor, with Ken Conca of American University, of Green Planet Blues: Critical Perspectives on Global Environmental Politics and Environmental Peacemaking. [13] Furthermore, he has coined the concept of "backdraft" to raise attention to the adverse and potentially conflict-enhancing effects of climate change mitigation and adaptation. [14]

Personal life

Dabelko lives in Athens, OH.

Publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Institute of Peace</span> Federally chartered organization in the United States

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American federal institution tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. It provides research, analysis, and training to individuals in diplomacy, mediation, and other peace-building measures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stockholm International Peace Research Institute</span> Research institute in Stockholm, Sweden

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is an international institute based in Stockholm. It was founded in 1966 and provides data, analysis and recommendations for armed conflict, military expenditure and arms trade as well as disarmament and arms control. The research is based on open sources and is directed to decision-makers, researchers, media and the interested public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peace and conflict studies</span> A subject in social science

Peace and conflict studies or conflict analysis and resolution is a social science field that identifies and analyzes violent and nonviolent behaviors as well as the structural mechanisms attending conflicts, to understand those processes which lead to a more desirable human condition. A variation on this, peace studies, is an interdisciplinary effort aiming at the prevention, de-escalation, and solution of conflicts by peaceful means, based on achieving conflict resolution and dispute resolution at the international and domestic levels based on positive sum, rather than negative sum, solutions.

Environmental security examines threats posed by environmental events and trends to individuals, communities or nations. It may focus on the impact of human conflict and international relations on the environment, or on how environmental problems cross state borders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey</span> International affairs school of Middlebury College (Vermont)

The Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS), formerly the Monterey Institute of International Studies, is a graduate institute of Middlebury College, a private college in Middlebury, Vermont. Established in 1955, the school provides instruction on a campus in Monterey, California. The institute offers master's programs and certificates in environmental policy, international policy, language teaching, and translation and interpretation. It is host to several related centers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peacebuilding</span> Nonviolent intervention to prevent conflict

Peacebuilding is an activity that aims to resolve injustice in nonviolent ways and to transform the cultural and structural conditions that generate deadly or destructive conflict. It revolves around developing constructive personal, group, and political relationships across ethnic, religious, class, national, and racial boundaries. The process includes violence prevention; conflict management, resolution, or transformation; and post-conflict reconciliation or trauma healing before, during, and after any given case of violence.

Qamar-ul Huda is an American religious scholar.

The Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution (CRDC) is an arm of George Mason University's Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. CRDC engages in practice, education, and research concerning peace-building in conflicts where religion and culture play a significant role in a destructive conflict. CRDC specializes in entrepreneurial engagement with partners, students and supporters who share the goal of promoting emerging networks of indigenous and global peacemakers; mobilizing support for them; and forging links between such people, citizen-diplomats, and policymakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental issues</span> Concerns and policies regarding the biophysical environment

Environmental issues are disruptions in the usual function of ecosystems. Further, these issues can be caused by humans or they can be natural. These issues are considered serious when the ecosystem cannot recover in the present situation, and catastrophic if the ecosystem is projected to certainly collapse.

Environmental peacebuilding examines and advocates environmental protection and cooperation as a factor in creating more peaceful relations. Peacebuilding is both the theory and practice of identifying the conditions that can lead to a sustainable peace between past, current or potential future adversaries. At the most basic level, warfare devastates ecosystems and the livelihoods of those who depend on natural resources, and the anarchy of conflict situations leads to the uncontrolled, destructive exploitation of natural resources. Preventing these impacts allows for an easier movement to a sustainable peace. From a more positive perspective, environmental cooperation can be one of the places where hostile parties can sustain a dialogue, and sustainable development is a prerequisite for a sustainable peace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Center on International Cooperation</span>

The Center on International Cooperation (CIC) is a foreign policy think tank based at New York University that works to enhance multilateral responses to global problems, including conflict, humanitarian crises, and recovery; international security challenges, including weapons proliferation and the changing balance of power; resource scarcity and climate change. It was founded in 1996 by Dr. Shepard Forman.

Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP) is an accredited graduate-level program founded in 1994. It also offers non-credit training. The program specializes in conflict transformation, restorative justice, trauma healing, equitable development, and addressing organizational conflict. CJP is housed at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) in Harrisonburg, Virginia, which describes itself as "a leader among faith-based universities" in emphasizing "peacebuilding, creation care, experiential learning, and cross-cultural engagement." One of the three 2011 Nobel Peace Laureates, Leymah Gbowee of Liberia, earned a master's degree in conflict transformation from CJP in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental Change and Security Program</span>

The Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP) is one of several programs and projects that make up the Global Resilience and Sustainability Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. ECSP was founded in 1994 to study the connections among environmental, health, population dynamics and their links to conflict, human insecurity, and foreign policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Institute for Sustainable Development</span> Think tank in Canada and Switzerland

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is an independent think tank founded in 1990 working to shape and inform international policy on sustainable development governance. The institute has three offices in Canada - Winnipeg, Ottawa, and Toronto, and one office in Geneva, Switzerland. It has over 150 staff and associates working in over 30 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sherri W. Goodman</span> American government official

Sherri Goodman is a globally recognized leader in environmental and climate security. She has had a multidisciplinary career as a national security executive, public policy leader, board director and lawyer. She is a Senior Fellow at the Polar Institute and the Environmental Change & Security Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, and Senior Strategist at the Center for Climate and Security. She is the Secretary General of the International Military Council on Climate & Security. Previously, she served as the President and CEO of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership. She is the author of "Threat Multiplier: Climate, Military Leadership & the Fight for Global Security", to be published by Island Press in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hizkias Assefa</span> Ethiopian consultant

Hizkias Assefa (1948) is a conflict mediator known widely in Africa for his non-aligned work as a consultant who has mediated in most major conflict situations in sub-Saharan Africa in the past 20 years, as well as in a dozen countries elsewhere. He is also a professor of conflict studies. Of Ethiopian origin, he is based in Nairobi, Kenya. He was one of the founding faculty members in 1994 of the Conflict Transformation Program at Eastern Mennonite University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in climate change</span> Climate change activists

The contributions of women in climate change have received increasing attention in the early 21st century. Feedback from women and the issues faced by women have been described as "imperative" by the United Nations and "critical" by the Population Reference Bureau. A report by the World Health Organization concluded that incorporating gender-based analysis would "provide more effective climate change mitigation and adaptation."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashok Swain</span> Indian-born Swedish professor (born 1965)

Ashok Swain is an Indian-born Swedish academic and public intellectual. He is a professor of peace and conflict research at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden. In 2017, he was appointed as the UNESCO Chair on International Water Cooperation and became the first UNESCO Chair of Uppsala University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florian Krampe</span>

Florian Krampe is a German/Swedish political scientist and international relations scholar at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).[2] He is best known for his work on climate-related security risks, Environmental Peacebuilding, and the governance of natural resources after armed conflict. He also serves as Affiliated Researcher at the Research School for International Water Cooperation at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University. Between 2020 and 2022 Krampe was cross appointed Specially Appointed Professor at the Network for Education and Research on Peace and Sustainability at Hiroshima University, Japan.

Tobias Ide is a German-Australian political scientist and geographer. He is currently Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Murdoch University in Perth and Specially Appointed Professor of Peace and Sustainability at Hiroshima University. Ide is well known for his research on climate security and environmental peacebuilding. He also consults decision makers, for instance at the United Nations, World Bank, and NATO.

References

  1. 1 2 "Geoffrey D. Dabelko | Ohio University". www.ohio.edu. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  2. "What's Next? Celebrating 20 Years of the Environmental Change and Security Program | Wilson Center". www.wilsoncenter.org. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  3. "Geoffrey D. Dabelko | Wilson Center". www.wilsoncenter.org. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  4. "Geoffrey D. Dabelko | Ohio University". www.ohio.edu. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  5. "UNEP Expert Advisory Group on Environment, Conflict and Peacebuilding" (PDF). UN Environment Programme. 2009.
  6. "Geoffrey D. Dabelko – Population Reference Bureau" . Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  7. "Environmental Peacebuilding | Profiles". www.environmentalpeacebuilding.org. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  8. "Case Studies in Environment | Editorial Team". online.ucpress.edu. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  9. Conca, Ken; Dabelko, Geoffrey D. (2002). Environmental peacemaking. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  10. Johnson, McKenzie F.; Rodríguez, Luz A.; Quijano Hoyos, Manuela (2021-01-01). "Intrastate environmental peacebuilding: A review of the literature". World Development. 137: 105150. doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105150. ISSN   0305-750X.
  11. Ide, Tobias (15 May 2018). "Does environmental peacemaking between states work? Insights on cooperative environmental agreements and reconciliation in international rivalries". Journal of Peace Research. 55 (3): 351–365. doi:10.1177/0022343317750216. ISSN   0022-3433.
  12. "Environmental peacebuilding researchers receive prestigious Al-Moumin Award". UN Environment. 2018-01-31. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  13. "Environmental Peacemaking | Wilson Center". www.wilsoncenter.org. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  14. "Backdraft: The Conflict Potential of Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation | Wilson Center". www.wilsoncenter.org. Retrieved 2024-06-21.